Building Global Teams

Some cultures expect men to show strong emotions, such as crying, fear, or anger while other cultures criticize men for expressing the same emotions. Which statement describes the important role of expressing emotions during intercultural communication?

Face-to-face communication provides the necessary verbal and nonverbal cues to share emotions among team members. Global virtual teams face challenges using emotional intelligence because of a lack of verbal and nonverbal cues. Emotional cues are essential to the overall functioning of the team, especially because the team members may be from different cultural backgrounds. Emotions are always present during communication and gauge how the team feels in general about the work and project.

Which of the following describes the success of virtual teams in individualist cultures?

In individualist cultures, team members perform better when given the individual freedom to do the work necessary to achieve the team goals. Examples of virtual teams from individualist cultures are the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany

What challenge would international managers face when collaborating with a global virtual team compared to doing it with face-to-face communication?

It is difficult to build trusting relationships among team members who may or may not have met and may never see each other. Positivity speaks volumes because team members can hear a smile in your voice. Virtual team leaders may use team building as a strategy for the team launch.

What is one of the four controls used by virtual team leaders?

Outcome control Clan control Self-control Behavior control

What is a suggestion for good communication in a global team?

Over communicate, especially at the beginning of the team project. Give the benefit of the doubt to accommodate the cultural and language differences. When starting a new global project, it is important to hold an initial face-to-face kickoff meeting so that all team members can introduce themselves to one another. Live and breathe your e-mail and make sure the team does too. E-mail is asynchronous and fits all time zone differences.

How does an international manager create a culture of humanness to positively influence teams?

Personal connections and positive intercultural interactions are essential to the success of global virtual teams and help establish relationships among team members. When a manager smiles to a team member, there is a biological response that activates, making the colleague smile. The idea of emotions during intercultural communication implies that managers need more than just a basic management style. Emotions are essential to successful intercultural communication because the behavior of an international manager will affect the behavior of others.

Emotional communication plays a vital role in intercultural communication and is referred to as social intelligence. How does social intelligence influence positive communication during intercultural relationships?

Social intelligences is the time and energy you invest in others for their development. Social intelligence provides empathy for the needs and motivations of others. Social intelligence is being aware of influence through communication with others and persuading them to accept your ideas.

What assumption would international managers make about the diversity in global teams?

There is an assumption that leadership does not change in the social media age. Global teams can reduce personality conflicts, control and power mindsets, and cliques that are common in traditional teams. Social media has changed the overall basis of the communication process because of the lack of nonverbal cues. Technology has made it possible for workers from all over the globe to interact.

What statement reflects the role of emotional contagion in virtual teams?

When a manager smiles to a team member, there is a biological response that activates, making the colleague to smile. When a team member looks at others who are expressing emotions, the team member observes nonverbal cues from the other person. This is especially important for collective cultures. When a team member receives constructive criticism, the team member will feel better about the criticism if the manager uses positive body language and facial expressions. Social media such as instant messaging creates the same emotional contagion response.

Which of the following statements reflects the features of virtual teams in collective cultures?

Within collectivist cultures, managers benefit from using clan control in virtual teams. Behavior control is beneficial in collective cultures where the workers are motivated to follow procedures.